Two-time presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reaffirmed his belief in universal healthcare when he introduced his “Medicare for All” proposal on April 10, 2019. Sanders made universal healthcare a mainstream issue during his 2016 presidential campaign and is putting it at the forefront of the current primary race. Sanders’ proposal would finally allow the United States to catch up to other nations that believe healthcare is not just a privilege but a right for all citizens.
Approximately 27 million people are currently uninsured in the U.S. A majority of these individuals are unable to afford a health insurance plan, due to the high premiums. Uninsured Americans pay higher fees when visiting doctors and hospitals because they lack a carrier to negotiate for lower prices.
Even those who do have health coverage have high deductibles or premiums. This increases the likelihood that they will be unable to afford necessary medical treatments and often forces them to wait until their health issues are more severe and, therefore, more expensive to treat.
It is infuriating that the percentage of uninsured Americans has increased from 10.9% to 13.7% since 2016, the year Donald Trump won the presidential election. President Trump’s consistent bashing of the Affordable Care Act, which initially allowed twenty million uninsured Americans access to healthcare, has deterred people from opting into the plan.

President Trump’s repeated threats to repeal the Affordable Care Act have also dissuaded people from enrolling in the program. New York Times article “Why is Obamacare Enrollment Down?” said, “Enrollment through the federal website Healthcare.gov, which manages insurance marketplaces in 39 states, is down 11 percent compared to 2017, according to government figures.”
Both parties’ lack of action on healthcare is a problem, because citen’s lives should never be a partisan issue. Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have all come out in support of some version of universal Medicare, but have very different plans to achieve coverage.
This is representative of the lack of cohesion within the Democratic party and the growing divergence between its moderate and left wings, something which only makes it harder for those presently suffering from a lack of access to affordable healthcare. If we want to resolve this issue, we should work on a realistic and substantial plan that will eradicate the problem of uninsured people in this country.

It is astounding that the U.S. is one of only 40 other countries in the world that does not provide universal healthcare, and many of these countries are too poor to offer it or are in the midst of political unrest, such as Syria and Afghanistan. Neither of these issues are present in this country, so I find myself asking: Why doesn’t the U.S. have universal healthcare? Why doesn’t the U.S. follow the healthcare models of countries like Canada and the U.K.? Why doesn’t the U.S. stop relying on private healthcare companies, which allow the rich to profit and force the poor to suffer?
A single-payer healthcare system – one in which every American, regardless of their income, would be covered – might end up saving the nation trillions of dollars, according to economists with the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Amherst. The analysis of the study stated that Medicare for All, “is not only economically viable, but could actually reduce health consumption expenditures by about 9.6 percent, while also providing decent health care coverage for all Americans.”

Accomplishing this would require increasing taxes, but wealthy and larger corporations should bear this burden. I believe it is their responsibility to give back to society, especially when there are so many people who could use their assistance. Indeed, the wealthy will ultimately benefit from healthy workers. In addition, corporations would not spend as much on healthcare for employees.
In a nation such as the United States, committed to freedom and equality, it is embarrassing that corporations and the wealthy value money over their fellow citizens’ lives. If the U.S. wants to continue improving its global image, everyone should possess the right to healthcare, the right to a doctor in times of sickness, and, most importantly, the right to life.